window types with scheduals..

[ray salmon]

in window types a simple elevation view is drawn of the window like "type A" "type B" etc how can we tap off the elvation view to get this withour redrawing the whole thing... the only way i can do is to do duplicate view of the elavation then crop it to the edge of the trim.. but then if the window get changed the view is not set right... since this is BIM would be nice if types viewed in elevation would update also with the plan... or is there a feature to do this... sure would save a ton of work. and also to tie this into the schedual

[D.Williams]

You should be able to use a Legend and insert the windows as a Legend Component. You can choose between plan and elevation views of the object. Curtainwall panels are finicky if you're looking to dimension them in the Legend but I've never had an issue with standard window families.

[Andre Carvalho]

Go to View > Legend > Give it a name and scale > Go to the project browser (+) families (+) Windows > Window type > Drag the family to the legend (select the view type as Elevation Front on top).

I hope this helps,

Andre Carvalho

[twiceroadsfool]

That, or set up the "future phase" legends that many people are using. Set up a phase after your project that is in the future (so it doesnt schedule) and put a wall up with one of each window type in it, and take an elevation of the whole thing for your window legend. It will let you tag the windows with an actual tag then (nice if the PM reorders the window types...), as a legend will not. We do this for all of our legends now...

[ray salmon]

much help for sure

BTW how do you sell info like this in your office..
all of us here are at very different levels of Revit.

much of Revit work is way too much line work
it correct on one sheet and wrong on another...
the inverse of BIM

r

[angus.110169]

That, or set up the "future phase" legends that many people are using. Set up a phase after your project that is in the future (so it doesnt schedule) and put a wall up with one of each window type in it, and take an elevation of the whole thing for your window legend. It will let you tag the windows with an actual tag then (nice if the PM reorders the window types...), as a legend will not. We do this for all of our legends now...

ooooooo.... nice tip, this might get rid of some of the frustrations we have been having with windows legends: not being able to tag windows, not being able to show windows flipped, etc....etc....

might be trying this one straight away...

[ray salmon]

yep i agee....

very cool way to do it....

r

[twiceroadsfool]

Gotta give credit where its due.... I got it from a bunch of other people here on wonderful AUGI.

It works for all kinds of things. I use it for partition schedules too. Then i can use a live dimension, live wall tag, and live material tags reading the Identity Data parameters for descriptions. That way, when someone 6 desks away changes an interior partition and doesnt send an email, our drawings are still coordinated.

Ray- If its too much line work, figure out what techniques to use to make it less. I find my Revit models need very little linework. Just detail components, dimensions, a couple of edit cut profiles and the OCCASIONAL masking region here or there...

[ray salmon]

i have to take over on rvt that others have done (most of whom barely know rvt) so get stuck with their tons of linework.. so very hard to know how to organize teamwork when there is a vast difference in skill level...

not complaining on this just know everyone is trying their best...

but sure see a lot time doing things twice and not matching....
and i am sure doubling our time on projects
supposedly what BIM is trying eliminate...

ray

[twiceroadsfool]

It wont eliminate time and rework until everyone is trained and up to speed... :)

Were all fighting the same battle, believe me...

[still.james]

Go to View > Legend > Give it a name and scale > Go to the project browser (+) families (+) Windows > Window type > Drag the family to the legend (select the view type as Elevation Front on top).

I hope this helps,

Andre Carvalho

great tip, thanks:)

[iankids]

Hi Aaron,

Creating a future phase with all of the project windows in a wall all works fine, but when I tag them, they tag as normal with the next available number in the window tagging system.

Whilst these number do not show up on the window schedule, they are not the same tag number as shown on plans and elevations, thus if one creates a window schedule drawing from this future phase, all of the numbers are different.

Have I missed something basic in creating the future phase, or in copying the windows?

Thanks for your help,

Cheers,

Ian

[twiceroadsfool]

Are you tagging windows by instance or by window type? Ive always seen it done by type, so the legends just show the actual window type (type parameter) and not the mark value (instance parameter).

If youer using the legend to show every single window by instance, this method wont work for you, and you might want to consider callouts from your elevations at that point...

[iankids]

Thanks Aaron,

Makes perfect sense. I am, as you suggested using window tag by instance (on the small domestic projects I find this is the easiest for the builders).

Thanks for the tip on elevation callouts, I will give that a whirl.

Cheers,

Ian

[Mike Sealander]

On the subject of expertise level:
We're a small office, but I have been trying to limit the number of people who actually draft on a project. A good Revit hand can output quite a lot when supported by someone else doing code research, someone else making design decisions, so forth.

[twiceroadsfool]

On the subject of expertise level:
We're a small office, but I have been trying to limit the number of people who actually draft on a project. A good Revit hand can output quite a lot when supported by someone else doing code research, someone else making design decisions, so forth.

Thats a great way to do it.

What i struggle to teach in our office, is that *more hands* isnt always better. I was alone on a .5mil SF shopping center with 7 archi models, right until about midway through Construction documents. When i got bogged down by design changes and client meetings, they tossed in three new people, instead of the one experienced Reviteer i asked for. So naturally, now theres 5 of us on it, treading water and barely swimming...

[Scott Womack]

Are you tagging windows by instance or by window type? Ive always seen it done by type, so the legends just show the actual window type (type parameter) and not the mark value (instance parameter).

If youer using the legend to show every single window by instance, this method wont work for you, and you might want to consider callouts from your elevations at that point...

Legends are great for a series of things. Keyplans, Door Frames and Door Panel types, Symbol Legends, etc. The only thing to remain aware of is that instance parameters are NOT accessible, nor are they displayed in Legends. When you put in a door frame that is variable in length, only the Default values set in the type when loaded into the project the first time will display.

I use LOTS of legends for lots of different things. Benefits out-weigh issue I described above.

[twiceroadsfool]

Legends are good for things like Keyplans, yes. I dont think they work too well for things like Door Frames or Door Panels, sadly. You cant use an intelligent tag on either, and while that seems to be minutiea (sp?), why am i excited to have fully coordinated and automatically updating doors with type parameters, just so i can hodge podge the Type letter or number under it in a legend?

Its not a big issue with me, since the future phase thing handles all of these things wonderfully, so dont take it as a Revit bash, im just saying. They have great potential, but they dont work extremely well.

Frankly, id love to see the Legend tool modified to BE the future phase thing: IE, you can model anything in it you want: Walls, doors, families, etc. And place them JUST like in the model, replete with being able to edit the parameters and tag them.... And just have them ONLY show up in the legends. That means curtain walls, model groups, system families, annotations... ANYTHING.

Just a thought. :)

[ededios]

The "future phase thing" sounds great, I think I'll try that on a few things.
For our Window Types, we did use Legend view, I found that I can set a label to Model Text in the window family, and it's visible in our legend view.

I set the Model text visibility to Fine so it doesn't show in my elevations, and set the label to Type Comments parameter, (because I wasn't able to chose Type Mark and I didn't want to create a new parameter). It works fine, actually forces us to set the type, and not leave it blank. I haven't needed it with anything else, so I hadn't tried it with doors or casework, etc.

It's worked fine for us, for now.

[twiceroadsfool]

Somebody (Dan H from here, so i can say i gave credit where it was due, LOL) pointed out one important thing to do differently from the method of *future phase*.

I would actually make it a PAST phase, and just demolish everything before the project starts, like this:

Legend Model Phase < Create objects here
Legend Demo Phase < Demo legend stuff here
Existing <Start actual project here
Phase 1
Phase 2

That way youre Legend views show the "Legend Model Phase," NO VIEW shows the Legend Demo Phase, and when the project really "starts" in Existing, there is nothing left from the Legend stuff to interfere, since it all got demolished.

Doing it in the past instead of the future means you dont have to worry about where the actual project is modeled, since you dont have to avoid it, so you can put everything neatyl around the origin...